Little Things
by VectorCrocodileFangirl
Summary: /Snake Eyes x Kamakura/ Work and personal injury can put a lot of stress on a couple's love life.


**A/N**: Augh I hate it D: The plot is disjointed and all over the place. This was going to be my fill for KatieKat94's request but it turned out horribly, so I'll be writing more Snake Eyes/Kamakura to make up for it, promise.

Fun fact, I actually had to look up all of the ASL Snake Eyes uses in this to ensure I was getting the one-or-two-handed gestures correct.

* * *

Kamakura woke up with an extremely bright light directly in his eyes, and quickly squeezed them shut. Bright light was not something he wanted to deal with then, between the suffocating heat surrounding him and how sore everything was and how it was just generally starting off as a bad morning. He'd had some tiring nights before-- nights breaking well into the morning spent training, for one, and nights where he was finally allowed to sleep after being forced to stay awake for days at a time, but nights spent _with_ Snake Eyes were always the worst the next morning.

He tucked his head in under Snake Eyes' chin and sighed a half-yawn, pressing his arms between his and Snake Eyes' bodies. Although the warmth _was_ suffocating, he didn't quite want to get up yet. That might have been partially due to the aching feeling covering his entire body from the shoulders down, but mostly it was because he felt too comfortable lying there in Snake Eyes' arms to want to get up. Getting up meant having to do his job, therefore most likely separating him from Snake Eyes all day-- not physically, but emotionally was sometimes worse. His sensei and lover was an entirely different person when he was on the job or during training, after all.

Snake Eyes stirred next to him, and he felt the arms around him tighten into an actual embrace, rather than just loosely hanging around his body. He kissed Snake Eyes' collarbone as he felt the older man stirring, clearly awoken by the rising sun. He couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up before Snake Eyes, so it almost felt like an accomplishment.

"Mm...morning." he murmured, snuggling tight against his sensei, stealing as much body heat as possible. The morning air was biting, and the blankets weren't as thick as he'd like them to be-- he'd been in far worse, of course, but he took luxuries where he could get them. Snake Eyes stroked his hair, tilting his head so his cheek was pressed against the top of Kamakura's. After a few tired minutes, he tilted his head again and kissed the top of Kamakura's head. "Wanna get up now?" he asked, knowing that it was essentially a day off for them-- Snake Eyes had a few paperwork related things to do, and Kamakura had to finish a few of his bi-monthly admission reports, still technically being in-training, but there was nothing particularly important going on. Nothing that required them to get up at a particular time. Snake Eyes started to rub his back, holding him even more tightly. "Me neither..." he muttered. There was a few minutes of absolute serenity where neither of them moved, wrapped up so tightly in each others arms and enjoying the early morning briskness from the comfort of their bed dressings, but both of them finally managed to drag themselves out of bed after Kamakura's stomach started growling. Always perfectly alert immediately after waking up, Snake Eyes grabbed a couple of towels from the small pile sitting on the dresser and tossed one to the still half asleep Kamakura.

The process was slow going, Kamakura being sore and tired, but Snake Eyes eventually managed to get him out of his clothes and into the shower. With the younger man leaning back against him, he started to work shampoo into his hair, giving him something of a scalp massage at the same time. After the shower, Kamakura seemed to have woken up well enough, and with the two of them clean, they quickly pulled on their clothes (Kamakura his casual clothes, and Snake Eyes his full suit, generally feeling naked without his mask) and made their way down to the kitchen.

* * *

It being dawn and a proverbial day off, the kitchen was bereft of most of their teammates, the only one sitting at the huge table, big enough to sit all of them, was Scarlett, her hair pulled back and reading her book in silence. When she heard the door open, she looked up and smiled at them.

"Morning, early birds." she greeted, as Kamakura seated himself across from her and Snake Eyes, mask temporarily discarded, drifted into the kitchen and started opening the cupboards marked specifically for him and the apprentices. Due to Snake Eyes' rigid food fanaticism, the three of them were kept on a very strict diet, and he for the most part did all of their cooking.

"I could say the same to you. Don't you _ever_ sleep in?" Kamakura asked, every so often looking at Snake Eyes out of the corner of his eye, try as he might to keep his attention on Scarlett.

"Haven't since I was a little girl." she replied. "No point in wasting a perfectly good day in bed. Have you got anything to do today?" Kamakura shrugged.

"Just a few of my reports." he replied. "Nothing big. And you?" he asked.

"I finished everything." she replied. Kamakura chuckled; he should have known. Scarlett never took a break until all of her work was done. He turned to look at Snake Eyes' progress in making their breakfast, and winced when he felt a sharp pain in his hip, bending over slightly in his chair. Normally he was used to _small_ pains when waking up after a night with Snake Eyes, and a general feeling of soreness, but whether it be because Snake Eyes had been gone for a few weeks due to a particularly long and boring mission, or because of something else entirely, _this_ was completely different. The pain faded after a few moments, but he stayed bent over slightly in case of another wave. Another few moments and he was sure they'd passed, so he sat up, but by that time Snake Eyes had noticed him in pain and was at his side. Scarlett had also stood up, clearly ready in case Kamakura needed additional medical attention, but he waved them both off, looking at Snake Eyes, who had one hand on his back and was kneeling next to him.

"I'm fine." he assured him. "Just a twinge. 's gone now." Reluctantly, Snake Eyes stood up and migrated back to the kitchen, as Kamakura sat back, hand still on the spot that had started to hurt. After breakfast, he'd get it checked out by the ship's physician-- it was probably nothing, but all the same, he didn't want to risk it. As Snake Eyes went back to his kitchen duties, Scarlett turned back to her book, occasionally glancing up at Kamakura. Eventually she gave up and tucked her bookmark in to keep her page, putting her hands on the table and looking directly at him.

"You sure you're okay?" she asked. Kamakura nodded. "You sure?" she asked. Kamakura smiled at her and chuckled a bit.

"I'm _fine_, Scarlett. It was a _twitch_. Nothing to worry about." he assured her. "We get hurt worse than this every day, and besides, the pain's gone." She pursed her lips and nodded, while meanwhile, Snake Eyes tensed slightly while keeping an eye on what smelled like simmering oatmeal. It wasn't hard to tell that Snake Eyes didn't approve of Scarlett treating the apprentices so differently because of the age difference, but he never really _did_ anything about it.

"I know it's not a big deal on its own, but pains like this can mean something worse is going on." she pointed out. Kamakura nodded.

"I know. I'll get it checked out, but it can wait until after breakfast." he said. She looked to the left, considering the idea, then nodded. A few minutes later, Snake Eyes moved the saucepan off of the stove and migrated over to Kamakura while waiting for the food to cool. He sat down on the same side as Kamakura had gotten the pain in his side, and gestured for him to lift his shirt. After carefully examining him, he migrated back to the counter and spooned their oatmeal into two bowls, sprinkling almonds on top of it. He brought a bowl and spoon back to Kamakura, who quickly ate, while he looked on disapprovingly, eating his slowly. When Kamakura finished, much more quickly than Snake Eyes, he dumped his dishes into the sink and walked back around the table, headed for the door, and kissed Snake Eyes on the cheek as he passed. When the door closed behind him, Scarlett looked over to Snake Eyes and smiled.

"So things are going well, I see." she said, opening her book back to the marked page while Snake Eyes continued to eat. Looking up from her book without tilting her head, she saw Snake Eyes nod, not pausing in his steady eating pace. "He's a good kid. Uh...was he complaining about any sort of pain when you guys got back yesterday?" she asked. Snake Eyes looked up from his meal and shook his head. She cleared her throat and turned back to her book, just as the meaning of her question started to sink in and Snake Eyes turned slightly red. Feeling slightly awkward with Scarlett determinedly keeping her eyes on her book, he completely ignored his usual routine of eating slowly to shovel the rest of his oatmeal into his mouth and toss the dishes into the sink, following Kamakura out of the room. Scarlett looked up from her book just briefly as he passed, sighing and shaking her head with a little smile on her face. All she could think of was the age old adage, 'Love hurts.'

* * *

"It doesn't look _too_ bad. I can't see any outward signs of injury. It's probably just a minor muscle strain. All the same, I wouldn't do anything particularly stressful until the day after tomorrow. That means no working."

Kamakura sat up and pulled his shirt back down as the ship's resident physician jotted something down on his chart.

"That's fine. I don't have anything scheduled for tomorrow, anyway." he said.

"I understand that what you guys do...most especially _you_...requires a lot of strenuous movement, but I'd be careful. A lot worse can happen than a muscle strain that can put you out of commission for much longer than a day." he warned, taking off his constantly slipping glasses and setting them on his desk.

"When you do what we do, doctor, you don't notice the little aches and pains until you actually have time to sit and _rest_." Kamakura pointed out, hopping off of the examination bed. "Thanks." he said, turning back to give the doctor one last smile as he opened the door. The doctor smiled back.

"Just doing my job." he replied. "Take care of yourself." he said, as the door closed behind Kamakura. He shook his head. Being a private military doctor on a ship carrying a team that technically didn't exist was a stressful job indeed, but at least the people _on_ the team were good people.

* * *

Snake Eyes heaved his shoulders in a silent, bored sigh. Paperwork was never his favourite thing to do, and it was even worse when he let it accumulate to the point of being ridiculous in an effort to avoid doing it at all, and yet he never seemed to learn from the mistake. Case in point, he had been working almost non-stop for the past four hours, and yet he was still only a little over half finished. From progress reports about the apprentices to mission statements to budget requests, the small desk in the corner of his room was _covered_ with paper. Legions of soldiers armed to the teeth and robots sporting heat-seeking missiles and able to fly were no problem for him, but paper pushing never ceased to slowly kill him from the inside out. He dropped his forehead on the desk, banging his head lightly several times, until he heard knocking on his ajar door in sync with his headdesking.

"Apply forehead to desk, repeat until satisfied?" Scarlett asked, leaning against the door frame. Snake Eyes looked up, brushing hair out of his eyes and blinking slowly, trying to blink away the dots in his vision from banging his head against the desk. She spared a brief glance to the papers spread across his desk and the multitude of dead pens scattered around on the floor and gave him a little smile. "Behind on your paperwork again?" she asked. Snake Eyes squeezed his eyes shut and gave her a little nod, pushing away whatever he had been working on before she'd knocked. He leaned back in his chair and covered his face with his hands, dragging them up and tangling them in his hair as he gave Scarlett a particularly desperate look. "You should get it finished. Duke doesn't like having to explain to Hawk why things are late. Although I don't think he'd mind it much if it were _you_." she said, migrating into the room and looking at the dresser. Snake Eyes' room wasn't particularly decorated, but there were pictures here and there, and sitting on the dresser in an ornate (or, ornate for Snake Eyes, rather) frame was a picture of him with his arm around Kamakura, squeezing his shoulder, Kamakura's head against him and hand on his chest with his cheek pressed against the top of Kamakura's head, his other hand on Jinx's shoulder, who's full attention was focused on the camera. Scarlett remembered taking the picture on the deck of the Sea Titan about a month ago. "Are you and Kamakura.. close?" she asked, picking up the picture and wiping off dust collecting in one corner, obviously left there after someone had just quickly wiped dust off without going over the entire thing, her thumb lingering just under Jinx's chin. She laughed at her own choice of words. "Well, I mean, _obviously_ you're close, but.._ close_." she explained, turning towards Snake Eyes and glancing meaningfully towards the bed. Snake Eyes coughed awkwardly, both in sound and emotion, turning back to his paperwork. "I'm not trying to pry or anything, it's just.. he's really _young_. And, I mean, it's not a big deal, but, uh, it's just.. you know, I think this is the most awkward thing I've ever had to say to you." She pushed her hair back out of her eyes, used to having it held back by her goggles. "Far be it from me to tell you what his limits are, seeing as he's _your_ student, but.. as his _boyfriend_, just keep in mind that he's fragile." By now Snake Eyes had turned a vibrant shade of red, and Scarlett couldn't help but laugh at the sight. It was difficult to embarrass Snake Eyes at most times, but Kamakura was his weak spot for just about everything. "Speaking of training, how have things been going?" she asked, for the sake of his sanity. Snake Eyes signed his reply of 'Pretty well' as best he could with one hand, trying to sign the last form he'd been working on at the same time. The motions didn't really work without his other hand, but Scarlett managed to figure it out well enough. Neither of them had a particularly strong grasp of American sign language (Snake Eyes being more familiar with the Japanese equivalent and Scarlett having not started learning until a few years ago), but they could converse well enough. "Is Jinx doing well?" she asked. Snake Eyes quickly signed 'Yes', moving the current paper aside and moving on to the next in the considerably sized stack. Scarlett smiled; with Kamakura and Snake Eyes dating, Jinx was often forgotten about by her sensei and her fellow apprentice. It was nice to hear that she was doing well regardless. She was about to ask something else about Jinx when she heard a quiet 'oh' from the doorway.

"Hi, Scarlett. Hope I'm not interrupting anything." Kamakura said, lingering in the doorway.

"Of course not. I was just asking Snake Eyes about your and Jinx's training. I was leaving anyway." she said, putting the picture back on the dresser. "Is your side feeling better?" she asked. Kamakura gave her a smile and nodded.

"It only hurts if I turn really suddenly. The doctor said it's probably just a light muscle strain. I probably got it in the last mission and never noticed. I'm forcibly out of commission for tomorrow, but I had nothing to do, anyway." he explained, which Scarlett noticed made Snake Eyes turn slightly red. He looked over at the picture, set back on the dresser, but which Scarlett was still holding. "I should go ask Jinx if she's done her reports." he mentioned off-handedly.

"She is." Scarlett replied, and Kamakura gave her an odd look, Snake Eyes sparing a glance from his diligent writing. "I talked to her this morning. We had tea. When I asked her what she had to do today, she said nothing, because she'd already finished hers." she explained. She raised an eyebrow at Kamakura and dropped her arm away from the photograph, giving him a knowing look. "_You_ should probably get to work on it too, or else Hawk isn't gonna let a fledgling like you out of the nest for a _long_ time." Kamakura chuckled in good humour and shook his head.

"And you think he was planning on letting me out anytime soon _regardless_?" he asked.

"Just get working, okay? And don't distract Snake Eyes. You two are _both_ going to be in major trouble with Hawk if Duke can't get your stuff in on time." she warned, before sidling past him and walking briskly down the hall, taking off for parts unknown. Once she was gone, Kamakura closed the door and jumped onto the bed, putting his head down on the comfortable pillow as he watched Snake Eyes scribble away furiously out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed his laptop from the night stand and opened it, still watching Snake Eyes. "You know, things would go a lot faster if you just used a computer." he pointed out. Snake Eyes signed 'never', which Kamakura had a hard time seeing because Snake Eyes' back was turned to him, but that he understood well enough. Snake Eyes rarely used computers at _all_, let alone for anything he could do without. With a little shrug, he opened a new document and started on his own report; if Jinx could finish it in time, then so could he.

* * *

Kamakura shut his computer and very nearly threw it against the wall, but decided better and just put it back on the nightstand. He was _done_, finally, and he'd set it up to print in Duke's "office" with a little note saying that it was his report that was due to be sent to Hawk; he would have delivered it himself, but all he really wanted to do was lie there. He turned his head to look at Snake Eyes, who had reduced his two-inch thick pile of folders and individual papers to less than half an inch in the time it had taken him to finish the three-page bi-monthly report. Clearly he was doing something wrong if Snake Eyes doing paperwork by _hand_ was faster than him with his laptop, but then again, he was Snake Eyes, who seemed to automatically be amazing at everything. Reluctantly, he swung his legs out of bed and hopped up, walking over to Snake Eyes' chair and putting his arms around him from behind. He kissed the back of his head, which made Snake Eyes tilt his head back for a real kiss, which Kamakura happily obliged.

"You've been working for hours. You should take a break." he urged. Snake Eyes smiled up at him and dropped his pen to sign 'Almost finished', which made Kamakura pout slightly. "Have you taken a break _once_ since you started working?" he asked. Snake Eyes shook his head, and Kamakura kissed him again. "You're a sucker for punishment. Come take a break with me." he urged. Snake Eyes was surprised at the forcefulness with which Kamakura insisted, and was about to tell him that he needed to finish before he could take a break, when Kamakura lightly kissed the tip of his ear and started nibbling on it. Snake Eyes shivered violently at the feeling of Kamakura running the tip of his tongue around the inside rim, and he sighed, relenting. He didn't have all that much paperwork left, and most of it was just mindless signature fodder; he could afford to take a break. He rose from his chair and went to push Kamakura back towards the bed, but remembering the pain in his side, wrapped his arms around him instead, kissing him deeply. He reached one hand up to brush hair back out of his eyes, then released him and signed 'later'. Kamakura sighed deeply and quickly pecked him on the cheek. "Whatever you say. I'm going to go get something to eat, since you're preoccupied. Want anything?" he asked. Snake Eyes signed 'grapes', and Kamakura nodded.

When the door closed behind his young apprentice and boyfriend, Snake Eyes let out a voiceless sigh and turned back to his work. Cutting a path through a swarm of Cobra operatives was easy; it was situations like these that were going to be the death of him.


End file.
